IIRC: USA Wrestling dropped the ball on that one and something about the AAU. I don't have enough information to really go into details. All I know is I hated the politics so I started to pull away from that whole mess, which is where the whole SAMBO blackbelt fiasco happened.

There was a political mess in the past, but as it stands in 2012 there is one world governing body (FIAS) and the AASF is their rep in the US, not USA Wrestling or any other FILA sponsored entity. Of course USA Wrestling can (and prolly does) sponsor some "Sambo rules" competitions, just as the AAU has done. How well the international sport rules are followed is another matter (IIRC the AAU competitions had problems with this)

Now darkness comes; you don't know if the whales are coming. - Royce Gracie

My name is Coach Wil Everidge. I am the Chief Sombo Instructor in Cincinnati and the State Sombo Director for USA Wrestling in Ohio. I noticed that you had visited and commented on one of my instructional videos.

I understand that you disagree with some of the ground fighting positions that were being demonstrated by some of my students. I have only been training in, competing in, and coaching in Sombo since 1988. My instructor is Coach Joe Neely. I enjoy discussing the topic of Sombo and encourage my students to learn as much as they can from all arts.

Although I welcome comments and fruitful dialogue, I disdain disrespect, especially open unprofessional disrespect from another instructor. I would never make such an egregious accusation in an open forum or on your site.

I would enjoy discussing the merits of the different ground fighting positions with you and would even welcome you into one of my clubs here in Cincinnati if you were ever in town so that we could learn from one another. However, if it is your intent to openly attack another instructor, you can keep your comments to yourself.

If you would like to contact me, feel free anytime. My contact information will be listed below.

Let me be quite frank with you. You don't deserve my respect. I personally think you're full of yourself. You may be a nice guy but you don't really know what you're talking about. Me and several other coaches discussing this right now. You are more than welcome to join in but you won't like it.

I find it very interesting that the link above (http://www.milfordmartialartsacademy.com/Will%20Everidge.htm)
to Mr Everidge's bio makes the claim "USA Wrestling is the governing body for Sombo in the United States" (emphasis mine). "Is" as in present tense. USA Wrestling hasn't been the NGB for Sambo/Sombo since 1984. This is either a deliberate misstatement, or an honest mistake from someone living under a very large rock.

Now darkness comes; you don't know if the whales are coming. - Royce Gracie

Since nobody else is mentioning this let me:
How was our esteemed Coach Wil Everidge supposed to learn SAMBO, a Soviet Martial Art (remember it was 1988 when he started) from Coach Joe when the Cold War was still in effect. Whom did coach Joe learn his SAMBO?

According to wikipedia (for all that is worth) the "birth" of SAMBO was in 1938, so I guess technically someone could claim to have learned the system, and traveled to the USA before the cold war. But that seems like a stretch.

How was our esteemed Coach Wil Everidge supposed to learn SAMBO, a Soviet Martial Art (remember it was 1988 when he started) from Coach Joe when the Cold War was still in effect. Whom did coach Joe learn his SAMBO?

My google fu is limited but I decided to see if I could find anything about Coach Joe Neely. Not much turned up but I did find two bits of info. I came across a video of coach Joe and I pdf that indicates coach Joe is still teaching and was in West Virginia May 2011. http://www.akjuteamamerica.com/event...rtialFlyer.pdf